fadme
Middle English
editEtymology
editFrom Old English fæþm.
Noun
editfadme (uncountable)
- A fathom: a unit of length equal to six feet.
- 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “The Knẏghtes Tale”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published [c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 38, verso:
- heigh labour / and greet apparaillẏnge
was at the seruẏse / and the fẏr makẏnge
That wt his grene top / the heuene raughte
and twentẏ fadme of brede / the armes straughte- Great labour and appareling came to the service and the fire-making, for the pyre's green top reached to the skies, and its arms were twenty fathoms wide
Descendants
edit- English: fathom